602 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Topics of Interest. 



Hints on Honey Proinction. 



E. L. PRATT. 



Many of us do not work our bees to 

 the best advantage, and I shall lay down 

 a few rules that may be of value to some, 

 perhaps old to others. In the production 

 of comb-honey It Is necessary first to 

 secure a large working force by the 

 opening of the white clover harvest, or 

 by June 1, and I know of no simpler 

 manner of securing this large force than 

 by using the double-walled hive and the 

 closed-end frame. 



If we have our hive well filled with 

 stores in the Fall, no stimulative feeding 

 will be necessary, and, as skunk cab- 

 bage, willow and maple yield pollen so 

 early, it is unnecessary to dabble with any 

 sort of artificial pollen. But there is one 

 thing very essential about this time, and 

 that is to be sure to provide stimulative 

 feed during the cold and wet season that 

 generally comes on about the tima fruit 

 bloom is beginning to fail, as it is quite 

 important that the queen be fed liberally 

 in order for her to deposit the required 

 number of eggs a day. 



Just before white clover opens, the 

 sections, that have previously been pro- 

 vided with a good article of thin founda- 

 tion, should be adjusted to the colonies 

 in the strongest condition. It does not 

 pay to monkey with the very weak ones, 

 only so far as to see that they have a 

 good queen, and are doing well. Such 

 colonies should be kept in the frames, 

 and built up for the Fall flow, or for 

 stock another season. It is a good plan 

 to buy young queens from some reliable 

 breeder, and introduce to all such colo- 

 nies during clover bloom. 



There are always one or two colonies 

 that get into the sections at once, and 

 have quite a start made before all the 

 others. Simply shift a row of started 

 sections with a middle row of one not 

 started, bees and all. Continue this 

 practice until all have at least one row 

 of started sections. Another way is to 

 tier two cases of sections above the 

 strongest colonies, leaving out the cen- 

 ter row in each case, and hang a frame 

 of brood in all stages in their places. 

 Leave this until a good start is made, 

 when a row of started sections can be 

 placed in the center of each case, bees 

 and all. If they refuse to work after 

 this, it is very evident that they intend 



to swarm, when every effort should be 

 made to encourage them to do so. 



Disturb them as little as possible, and 

 feed a little during unpleasant weather. 

 Adjust a trap to the entrance, and pre- 

 pare a new hive for each, with starters 

 in the frames not over two inches wide. 



Never hive swarms onto full sheets of 

 foundation or drawn comb, or you will 

 be the loser rather than the gainer. 

 When the swarm issues, examine the 

 trap for the queen. When found, re- 

 move the trap and adjust it to the front 

 of the new hive, and place it close beside 

 the parent colony. Leave it until the 

 swarm returns, which it will do in a few 

 minutes, hiving itself as nicely as you 

 please. 



After the swarm is nicely settled in and 

 om the hive, it can be placed where it is 

 to stand permanently, and the queen 

 allowed to run in among the bees. It is 

 safer to wait until quite late in the after- 

 noon before the queen is released. The 

 case of started sections should be re- 

 moved from the old hive and placed onto 

 the swarm. If these bees do not show 

 you comb-honey, it is because there is no 

 honey in the field. In a few days the 

 parent colony will have become strong 

 enough to take a new case of sections. 



To guard against after-swarming, re- 

 adjust the trap to the old colony, catch 

 and kill the queens as fast as they come 

 off with a swarm. Then the trap should 

 be removed to allow the last young queen 

 a wedding flight. If increase is not de- 

 sired, the new hive can be placed on the 

 old stand, and all the remaining bees 

 shajken off the combs in front of the new 

 hive, at the end of the eighth day. The 

 brood remaining can be distributed 

 among the weak colonies, or tiered over 

 some colony that can care for it. 



A good cure for a sulky colony, is to 

 take all its brood away, and give full 

 sheets of foundation. When all swarm- 

 ing is over with, look the section-cases 

 over, and jump the filled sections to the 

 outside, and bring those just started on 

 to the center. In a few days more, a 

 new set can be placed under the filled 

 cases on the strongest colonies. Those 

 slow about filling up had better be kept 

 in on'e case, and new sections added by 

 rows in the center, and gradually tapered 

 down until the close of the clover 

 season. 



As soon as the clover season has 

 passed, all the honey remaining on the 

 hives, should come off, and the brood- 

 frames be examined. Wherever honey 

 is found in any quantity, it should be 

 uncapped, extracted, and the empty 

 combs returned to the hives from whence 



